PowerCharts XT uses XML (eXtensible Markup Language) to create and manipulate charts. XML is a simple and structured language that is easy to read and understand. In case you're not aware of XML as yet, here are a few basics things to know about an XML document:

• An XML document is a simple text file consisting of tags and data associated with them.
• You can make up your own tags like <mytag></mytag> to store data.
• Every opening tag requires a matching closing tag like <name> requires </name>. For example, <name>John Doe</name>. If an element has no content, the opening and closing tags may be combined into a single "shortcut" tag such as <name/>.
• XML tags are case-sensitive. So <name> should be closed with </name> and not </Name> or </NAME> or any other variant of the same.
• You can define attributes for a tag to render more details. For example, <name isPetName='true'>John Doe</name>. Here isPetName is an attribute of the name element. In PowerCharts XT, we've four types of attributes:
  • Boolean - Attributes which can take a 0 or 1 value. Like <chart showLabels='1' >
  • Number - Attributes which take a numeric value. Like <chart yAxisMaxValue='200' >
  • String - Attributes which take a string value. Like <chart caption='My Chart' >
  • Hex Color Code - Attributes that take a hex color code (without #). Like <chart bgColor='FFFFDD' >
• Special characters like ' (quote), " (double quote), % (percentage) etc are to be replaced by the XML converts. Like, the character " (double quote) in a string constant must be denoted as &quot;.

A chart is controlled by a single XML, that is, you use a single XML to provide the data and define the cosmetic as well as functional properties for the chart. There are a lot of properties that you can define for each chart type .

However, it is not necessary to define all the attributes for a given chart. For example, if you do not want to change the default setting of the canvas (color, alpha, etc.), you do not need to define any attribute for the canvas - the default values will be assumed. Thus, each chart can be generated using minimal attributes without concern for every finer detail. As you become more proficient in the chart attributes, you could use it to create complex charts with a wide range of features and an informative appearance.

PowerCharts XT has a specific XML structure for each chart. The XML structure for each chart is detailed in respective chart's "Chart XML Sheet" page. You can also obtain the XSD for each chart from Download Pack > Code > ChartXSD folder.